The Fall of Troy

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Troy was a powerful city located in northwestern Asia Minor (Asia Minor is now considered modern-day Turkey).

Check out this map of Asia Minor:

_{Image from Asia_Minor_Political_500BC.svg, via Wikimedia Commons, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.}

Compare this map of Turkey, which was previously Asia Minor:

Troy was a wealthy city, and because of this as many as 23 kingdoms wanted to conquer them and take control of the city and its wealth. The leader of Troy, King Priam, knew that he needed help to fend off these potential attackers. King Priam enlisted the help of the Kingdom of Sparta (located in northern Greece).

_{Image by Guillaume Rouille, via Wikimedia Commons, is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.}

As was told in Homer's book, Odyssey, the two kingdoms broke off their partnership after King Priam’s son, Paris, brought the King of Sparta’s daughter, Helen of Troy, back with him. Despite the two being in love, the king of Sparta did not like this and they became enemies. In this story, it was believed that the fights began as Sparta fought to get Helen home.

This led to the start of a 10-year war where many tried invading Troy by breaking through the strong wall that surrounded the city in order to defeat them. Troy was eventually taken over by Sparta after they received a massive wooden horse as a gift. What was surprising was that this horse actually had soldiers inside of it! Once inside Troy’s walls, the soldiers attacked. The war was believed to have happened before 1200 B.C., and the events from it are still believed, by some experts, to be false.

This is a replica of the wooden horse that entered Troy. You can find it in Canakkale, Turkey:

What a story! Now that you have had a brief introduction to the city of Troy and their famous Trojan horse, watch this educational video about the “gift” Troy received. Take notes as you watch because you will be challenged to see what you remember once you finish in the Got It? section. Find the answers to the following:

• What are the names of the important characters?
• What was the height of the Trojan Horse?
• How long did the Trojans fight off the Spartans?
• Who won the war between the two groups?

CLOUD | The Trojan Horse (MEL-O-TOONS, from jmyrtle13 Productions):

• Can you imagine tricking an entire region with a giant wooden horse?
• How long do you think it took to build such a creation, and how many soldiers do you think fit inside? It must have been a tight squeeze.
• In addition, considering this event, how likely are you to accept a gift from an enemy or unknown source? Would you accept one? Why or why not?

As you answer these thought-provoking questions, move on to the Got It? section for a little brain challenge!